unit two. reflexive verbs in spanish, whenever you perform an action on yourself instead of on...
TRANSCRIPT
Unit Two
Reflexive verbs
• In Spanish, whenever you perform an action on yourself instead of on someone else you should make the verb reflexive.
• Examples; We get dressed. (Reflexive - We dress ourselves.) John takes a bath. (Reflexive - He bathes himself.) She washes the dishes. (Not reflexive – She didn’t wash herself - she washed the dishes)
To make a verb reflexive you need to use a reflexive pronoun. The reflexive pronouns are;
Reflexive pronoun
English translation Use with this subject
ME myself I
TE yourself inf. You inf.
SE himself, herself, yourself for., (itself)
He, She, You for., (it)
NOS ourselves We
OS yourselves inf. pl. You inf. pl.
SE themselves, yourselves for. pl.
They,
You for. pl.
It’s easy to tell when a verb is reflexive by looking at the verb in a dictionary. You’ll notice that the reflexive pronoun se is attached to the end of the verb. Unconjugated reflexive verbs are always written this way.
For example; bañarse – to take a bath
Base verb
Reflexive Pronoun
Bañarse
To bathe
Se Bañar
To conjugate a reflexive verb, first remove the reflexive pronoun se from the end of the verb and place it upfront. Next, change se to match the subject. (Refer to the previous chart if you’ve forgotten the pronouns) Finally, conjugate the verb as you usually would. For example;
1. Move se upfront.
2. Now change se to match the subject – in this case Yo – and conjugate the verb.
I take a bath
Me baño
Ponerse
To put on
Se Poner
ER and IR verbs work the same way as AR verbs do.
For example;
1. Move se upfront
2. Now change se to match the subject and conjugate the verb.
We put on
Nos ponemos
Here’s an example for each verb type.
Subject Casarseto get married
Atreverseto dare
Aburrirse to get bored
Yo Me caso I get married
Me atrevo I dare
Me aburroI get bored
Tú Te casasYou (inf) get married
Te atrevesYou (inf) dare
Te aburresYou (inf) get bored
Él, Ella, Usted
Se casaHe/She gets marriedYou (for) get married
Se atreveHe/She daresYou (for) dare
Se aburreHe/She gets boredYou (for) get bored
Nosotros Nos casamosWe get married
Nos atrevemosWe dare
Nos aburrimosWe get bored
Vosotros Os casáisYou (inf pl) get married
Os atrevéisYou (inf pl) dare
Os aburrísYou (inf pl) get bored
Ellos, Ellas, Ustedes
Se casanThey get marriedYou (for pl) get married
Se atrevenThey dareYou (for pl) dare
Se aburrenThey get boredYou (for pl) get bored
Now you try it! On a piece of paper, or in your head, translate the following and then click for the correct answer.
He is shaving. (Afeitarse)
I comb my hair. (Peinarse)
We take a bath. (Bañarse)
You (inf) put on the hat. (Ponerse el sombrero)
Él se afeita.
Yo me peino.
Nosotros nos bañamos.
Tú te pones el sombrero.
Details• Almost any verb can be made reflexive. For example;
lavar = to wash, lavarse = to wash yourself
• Some verbs change meaning when used reflexively. For example;
Dormir = to sleep, dormirse = to fall asleep
Ir = to go, irse = to go away (to leave)
• When a reflexive verb is combined with another verb, you may either attach the pronoun to the end of the second verb, or you may place it before the first verb. Both ways are correct, but many Spanish speakers prefer to attach the pronoun. For example;
I want to take a bath. =
Yo me quiero bañar OR Yo quiero bañarme
Placed before 1st conjugated verb.
Placed after 2nd unconjugated verb.
¡El Fin!